How Communication Between the CIA and Kennedy Administration Influenced the Cuban Missile Crisis

Abstract

In October 1962, an American U-2 aircraft photograph captured Soviet missile sites, also known as SAM sites, in Cuba. After much debate, Kennedy eventually decided to place a naval quarantine around Cuba to prevent further military buildup and demanded the Soviets remove the missiles. The dissemination of information is crucial to US policy, as it allows policymakers to accurately assess threats and respond accordingly. The relationship between the CIA and Kennedy Administration is rooted in the dissemination of critical information, demonstrating why failures in dissemination can hinder policy. There is a lack of research that analyzes how the lack of communication, miscommunication, and communication of misinformation regarding Cuba contributed to the lack of US preparedness. This project fills this deficit by situating the strategic context of JFK’s decisions with the timing & gaps in intelligence briefings. This study chronologically organized and contextualized intelligence reports to evaluate how the relationship between CIA officials and Kennedy administration influenced the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both the timeline and the documents indicate that there was a severe lack of communication between CIA officials and the Presidential administration. It is also evident that prior failures, the election, and abysmal attitudes contributed to both miscommunication or lack of communication. Furthermore, intelligence failure, the cancellation of meetings, changes in photography, and lack of value placed upon CIA intelligence collection contributed to intelligence failure, which led to further communication of misinformation. This research implies that new pathways of communication are needed to stimulate the flow of communication between agencies.